The performance of a data connection (which might include, without limitation, a network connection, and/or a packet based service connection, or the like) for an end user is typically determined by the performance of a service provider network (and/or an access network) and/or a local area network of an end user.
Traditionally, users that questioned the performance of an end user's network connection relied on a test server hosted in the service provider network or hosted in another network (e.g., the Internet, an access network, a core network, a third party network, and/or the like) to perform test measurements and determine performance of the network. These test servers hosted in the network could return network performance information. However, these test servers hosted in the network could not determine whether a particular performance issue was occurring on a customer's local area network, a device communicatively coupled to the local area network, an access network or some other network, or a node in one or more of such networks. Thus, a user could not determine which data or network connection (i.e., a customer's local area network, an access network, a service provider network, a third party network, a packet-based service network, and/or the like) needed to be improved and/or repaired.
Hence, there is a need for more robust and scalable solutions for testing an access network and/or a local area network, and for allowing a user to test an access network and/or a local area network to determine whether a performance issue is occurring in an access network and/or a local area network.